Justice News

Honduran Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting Local Minor Out of State for Sex

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Elvin Castron-Murcia, 20, a Honduran native residing between Louisiana and Tennessee, pleaded guilty today to traveling for illicit sexual conduct and transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity. The guilty plea was announced by Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

In May 2018, a 12-year-old female, “ENN,” went missing from Navarre after her mother discovered her communicating on Facebook with a 19-year-old male using the name “Elvin C. Murcia.” Several neighbors had observed a black Honda Civic with Tennessee license tags parked near ENN’s residence in Navarre, Florida. A search of ENN’s cellular telephone and Instagram social media account revealed images of ENN in a vehicle with a male who appeared to be the same person using Murcia’s Facebook account.

The next day, ENN’s mother was able to communicate with ENN via Facebook Messenger, and law enforcement officers determined the cellular telephone used for the conversation was located in Tennessee. A state trooper soon observed the black Honda Civic with Tennessee tags and stopped the vehicle in Alabama. ENN was identified as the vehicle passenger, and Murcia, who was using a license issued in a stolen identity, was later identified as the driver. Images and videos on Murcia’s phone located after a forensic examination confirmed that Murcia and ENN were in an online relationship that began when ENN was just 11-years-old. Law enforcement officers were able to obtain pharmacy video in Tennessee depicting Murcia purchasing birth control with ENN the day before the traffic stop and subsequent arrest of Murcia. Later in May, law enforcement officers confirmed that Murcia was illegally present in the United States and that the identity he was utilizing was that of a true citizen of Puerto Rico.

The defendant is being detained. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 20, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. at the U.S. Courthouse in Pensacola.

Castron-Murcia faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for the traveling for illicit sexual conduct and a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for the transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney David Goldberg is prosecuting the case.